A stablecoin only beats transfer apps where dollars are hard to get
In Argentina, India and Nigeria, dollars are hard to get, so people pay more than the official rate for one. Send money there as a stablecoin and the person you send to can sell it at that higher price. They end up with more than any transfer app gives them.
In Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines, anyone can get dollars at the official rate. There is nothing extra to collect, so the transfer apps are cheaper.
Prices from the 01:00 UTC hour. A stablecoin is a digital coin that stays worth one US dollar.
Where the stablecoin is cheaper than the cheapest app
Each route sends 1,000 in your own money, like S$1,000 or US$1,000. Left of the black line, the stablecoin is cheaper than the cheapest transfer app we check, like Remitly or Western Union. Tap a route to see its costs below.
This hourLowest to highest hour, last 30 daysSame as the cheapest app
Sending US$1,000 to Argentina: Airwallex costs US$7.34, a stablecoin gets them US$53.97 more than the official rate
At this amount, a stablecoin was the cheaper way in 176 of the 176 hours checked since 22 October.
Official rate as of 00:02 UTC
What each way costs this hour, at US$1,000
Cost is what the person receiving loses against the official rate. Every fee we can measure is included.
−US$60−US$50−US$40−US$30−US$20−US$10US$0
Cheapest appAirwallex this hourUS$7.340.73%
Stablecoin−US$53.97−5.40%
The blockchain's own fee is not in this total, because the exchange does not publish it.
The stablecoin's cost, step by step
These are the steps of the main stablecoin way this hour.
−US$60−US$50−US$40−US$30−US$20−US$10US$0
Deposit and buyUS$4.800.48%
Network feeUS$0.100.01%
Sell and withdraw−US$58.87−5.89%
All in−US$53.97−5.40%
Below zero means they got more than the official rate at that step.
Which way was cheaper, day by day
Each point is a typical day. Below the dark line the stablecoin was cheaper than the cheapest app, above it the app was cheaper. A grey dotted line marks times with no price, either because there was none or because we failed to fetch it.